Samsung Lions' native ace Won Tae-in (25) is a top-tier starter with 57 career wins over seven seasons since debuting in 2019, but he has yet to achieve a complete game victory. He did earn his first complete game win on Aug. 2 last year against SSG in Daegu, allowing 3 runs over 9 innings.

On the 4th in Daegu against Hanwha, Won pitched well enough to aim for a shutout. He dominated the Hanwha lineup with 7 innings of 2 hits, no walks, 5 strikeouts, and no runs. After allowing a left-center hit to Kim Tae-yeon with one out in the first inning, he struck out 18 consecutive batters until permitting a right-field hit to Kim Tae-yeon in the seventh, showcasing his power.

After throwing 83 pitches through the seventh inning, he was in a position to go beyond the eighth inning and potentially into the ninth. The Hanwha batters were struggling so much that a shutout victory seemed possible, but relief pitcher Kim Tae-hoon came in at the start of the eighth inning. Won, who felt shoulder pain during last year's Korean Series, underwent rehabilitation over the winter and skipped a week of the rotation during the season's opening week. He was slowly built up without overdoing it before being returned to the first team.

In his first appearance on the 29th of last month against Doosan in Jamsil, Won started strong with 3 hits, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts over 5 innings, throwing 78 pitches. In today's game against Hanwha, he completed his build-up by increasing his innings and pitch count to 7 innings and 83 pitches, securing his first win of the season with a 1.50 earned run average.

Samsung manager Park Jin-man noted before the game against Hanwha on the 5th, "Yesterday, I was planning on around 90 pitches. If he went another inning, I thought he would exceed 90 pitches, so I decided to end it cleanly in the seventh. We also need to prepare for the next game. Seven innings is sufficient for him to have done his part."

Park Jin-man added, "It’s a long race ahead, so we need to manage him. Since he had a shoulder injury, he needs even more management," and mentioned, "Since he has built up twice, I think he should aim close to 100 pitches in the next game, even if he doesn't exceed it."

Meanwhile, Samsung's starting center fielder Kim Ji-chan was excluded from the starting lineup that day. He was replaced by Kim Sung-yoon after finishing defense in the fifth inning due to pain in his left hamstring. He was also excluded from the starting lineup that day as a precaution.

Manager Park said, "I think we need to monitor his condition until tomorrow (6th). Since he moves around a lot when running the bases, we need to continue managing him."

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